Tinned copper vessels were made as inexpensive substitutes for display silver. The process was very cheap and was done by dipping the finished copper vessel into molten tin. This ewer conforms to standard Renaissance design in Italy and northern Europe, with its division of the ovoid-shaped body into three horizontal bands. In terms of its decoration, however, it borders on Mannerism. Similar elements appear in design engravings by Enea Vico in the 1540s.